Royal Mail: No right to strike

Royal Mail has won its legal battle to prevent a postal strike after the High Court backed its application for an injunction.

The Communication Workers Union were defiant and angry at the court ruling and rightly so with 110,000 workers backing you up they gave a message to the establishment saying:

The High Court has ruled against us. Genuinely this is an utter outrage. 110,000 workers vs the establishment. We will be live shortly. Stand strong. We will not be moved #WeRiseAgain

The decision is a setback for union plans to stage strikes in the run-up to the general election and Christmas.

Last month, 100,000 Royal Mail staff were balloted and voted to take action over job security and terms.

But Royal Mail argued that the ballot had “potential irregularities” and was null and void.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said it would appeal against the injunction after it was granted in London’s high court on Wednesday.

Trade union sources said strike action could still take place before Christmas – a key commercial period for Royal Mail – if members vote again and even if the legal appeal is lost. The strike cannot take place before the general election on 12 December, unless the appeal succeeds.

Members of the CWU overwhelmingly backed industrial action in a dispute over job security and employment terms and conditions. Last month 97% voted in favour of action, on a turnout of almost 76%. However, Royal Mail successfully argued that there were “irregularities” in the ballot.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) said its members were “extremely angry and bitterly disappointed”.

“The CWU stands absolutely united in their anger at Royal Mail bosses and the high Court following today’s “outrageous” decision to invalidate our overwhelming Yes vote and enormous turnout.”

It also accused Royal Mail of a “cowardly and vicious attack on its own workforce” and said it intended to appeal.

The union slammed the false claims made by senior management in the case they put to the court, describing their slurs against the CWU as “sour grapes from people who have lost the support of the workforce.

“The ‘Vote Yes’ campaign was excellent – so good that other unions have been asking us for advice on their own campaigns,” Steve added.

North Wales/North West divisional rep Ian Taylor also slated the company’s manufactured claims, insisting that the union’s ‘Vote Yes’ campaign had been “brilliant.”

Members would, he predicted, be “extremely angry” at the verdict of the Court, commenting: “from what I’ve heard so far, these sound like highly spurious reasons.

“I didn’t hear of one single complaint from my division – so that’s not one single complaint from about 20,000 members.”

Down in London, Martin Walsh dubbed the judgement “a political decision.

“Members will be very angry that management have taken their own workforce to court,” pointed out the divisional rep for the capital, and he continued that, despite today’s ruling, “the issues here remain the same and we will not accept what the business is trying to do to our members.”

The High Court has ruled against us. Genuinely this is an utter outrage. 110,000 workers vs the establishment.

We will be live shortly.

Stand strong. We will not be moved #WeRiseAgain ?

— The CWU (@CWUnews) November 13, 2019

What next?

Barring the result of any appeal, the CWU will have to go back to the drawing board and re-ballot its 110,000 members.

It’s not a quick process and there’s a strict code of practice to follow which takes at least a month.

According to government’s code of practice on industrial action, unions are required to give employers a week’s notice of their intention to ballot, after which seven days is the minimum period for members to vote. If workers back action the union must then give 14 days’ notice to the company ahead of the strike.

The price of Royal Mail shares rose by 1.4% after the judgment.

Whats the strike about? LINK